The Man Who Said "I Am the One"

A retelling for children, based on the account of Mírzá Mustafá Naráqí in Bahá'í Chronicles.

The soldiers had a man in front of them, and they were not sure he was the one they wanted.

The man they had caught wore a hat, and they could not see his hair. The real Mírzá Mustafá, they remembered, had two long locks of hair — so surely, they thought, this could not be the right man.

He could have stayed quiet. He could have let them think they had made a mistake and walked free. Instead, he reached up and took off his hat — and two long locks of hair tumbled down for everyone to see.

"Behold!" he said. "I am the one."

His name was Mírzá Mustafá Naráqí, and to understand why a person would do something so brave, you have to go back to the beginning of his story.

Mírzá Mustafá was an important man in his town. People looked up to him. But long before this day with the soldiers, back when the Báb first taught in Persia, Mírzá Mustafá had heard about a new and shining truth — and his whole heart had caught fire. He could think of nothing else. He wanted to be near the friends of God more than he wanted anything he already owned.

So, little by little, he gave those things up. He left his comfortable home. He left his family and the calm, easy life he could have kept. He traveled far away to Iraq, to be with the believers, and there something wonderful happened: he was allowed to come into the presence of Bahá'u'lláh. For a time he lived close by, joyful and content. Then Bahá'u'lláh sent him back to Persia to serve, and serve he did, with everything he had.

People who knew him said he was as steady as a hill. When everyone around him was frightened, he was calm. Hard times that would frighten most people only seemed to make him stronger — the way fire does not destroy real gold but only makes it shine brighter.

Once, when Bahá'u'lláh was leaving one city to travel to another, Mírzá Mustafá arrived from a long journey, hoping to see Him. There was time for only one short meeting — and he was given that one precious moment before being asked to return to Persia again.

Back home, Mírzá Mustafá could not keep the good news to himself. Day and night he prayed, and he told everyone he met about the Faith. His joy was so great that it spread to others. A respected teacher named Shaykh Ahmad came to the same region, and the two of them joined together. Side by side they taught openly, in the streets and out in the open, unafraid of who was listening.

But not everyone was glad to hear them. Some people in the city grew angry, and they wanted the two teachers stopped. That is when the soldiers came hunting — and that is the moment our story began, with Mírzá Mustafá lifting off his hat and saying, "I am the one."

They arrested him. They were cruel to him and to Shaykh Ahmad, and in the end both of these good men gave their very lives for what they believed. They were not afraid even then. At the place where it would happen, Mírzá Mustafá called out one last brave and loving thing. "Kill me first," he begged, "kill me before Shaykh Ahmad." He could not bear to watch his dear friend be harmed before him. Even at the very end, he was thinking of someone else before himself.

Bahá'u'lláh did not forget these two faithful souls. While they lived, He had sent them loving letters, and after they were gone, He wrote down with His own pen how much they had suffered, so that their courage would be remembered for all time.

From the time he was young until he was old, Mírzá Mustafá gave his whole life to serving God, and he never once turned back.

Mírzá Mustafá did not become brave all at once, on the day the soldiers came. He had been practicing for years — every time he chose God's path over an easy one, every time he told the truth when it would have been simpler to stay silent. So when the hardest moment of all arrived, he was ready. That is how courage grows: in small, honest choices, long before anyone is watching.

This is a retelling for children. For the fuller account, see "Mírzá Mustafá Naráqí".

editors, B. C.. *Bahá'í Chronicles*. https://bahaichronicles.org/mirza-mustafa-naraqi/